May 10th Hijacking. Image: OceanUSLive.com

A Liberian-flagged tanker has reportedly been hijacked today off the coast of Oman in the same general area of a violent but failed attack by a pirate action group yesterday.

According to a reports, a group of pirates have hijacked the MT Smyrni approximately 450NM South East of Salalah, Oman while transitting in the International Transit Corridor.  The MT Smyrni did not have a security team onboard and so far we do not know the condition of the crew.

The hijacking follows a violent attack against a tanker yesterday in the same area and possibly by the same group of pirates.

MAY 9

May 9th Attack. Image: OceanUSLive.com

According to the IMB reports, pirates in two skiffs armed with AK47s and RPGs approached a so far unidentified crude tanker underway and fired seven RPG rounds and more than AK47 300 rounds at the vessel from a distance of just 50 meters.  Still, the tanker was able to evade a hijacking by taking effective anti-piracy measures.  No one was injured in the attack, but the vessel is reported to have sustained damage as a result.  It is not clear if the vessel had a security team onboard at the time of the attack.

The pirates in Wednesdays attack were possibly operating from a nearby mothership also reported yesterday just 16nm away from where the attack occurred.  Authorities warn that the same group of pirates are still operating in the area and are expected to carry out more attacks.

IMB Report of May 9th Attack on Crude Tanker:

09.05.2012: 1000 UTC: Posn: 10:40N – 060:04E Around 345nm ESE of Socotra Island, Yemen (Off Somalia). Pirates in two skiffs armed with AK47 and RPG approached a crude tanker underway. At a distance of 50meters from the vessel the pirates fired seven RPG rounds and more than 300 rounds from AK47 firing upon the tanker. Effective anti piracy measures resulted in the skiffs aborting and moving away. No injuries to crew however vessel sustained damage due to the firing.

MT Enrico Levoli

By JD, Somalia Report

MT Enrico Levoli owned by Italian shipping company Marnavi was taken by pirates this morning according to the Italian owners

The Enrico Levoli is carrying caustic soda and is an Italian flagged and owned ship.

The official statement:

MT Enrico Ievoli – Security Issue As you are aware, our vessel Enrico Ievoli has been hijacked in position 18.3N – 57.6E. Presently we are unable to release a statement due to lack of information.

Next update at 1000Z

Updates 27 December 2011 – 12:12 Position of MT Enrico Ievoli updated at 1015Z obtained by LRIT system (Long Range Identification & Tracking) : 17° 35′.3 N – 056° 52′.8 E

27 December 2011 – 11:11 At about 0300UTC the Company has been informed that the above mentioned vessel was under pirate attack while navigating off Oman coast. Master immediately alerted the Italian Coastguard Head quarter. Crew : total 18 (6 Italian, 5 Ukranian and 7 Indian). Cargo on board : Caustic soda 15750 mt

Sailed from Fujairah (UAE) bound to Mediterranean Sea.

Company is waiting information from Italian Authorities.

Pirates Confirm Hijacking

A pirate source in Harardheere confirmed to Somalia Report that pirates had hijacked the Italian vessel.

“I don’t know the name of vessel, but the hijackers contacted some pirates in Harardhere area early today (Tuesday) and told them that they had taken the Italian vessel,” Tuur, a Harardheere area pirate told Somalia Report.

The vessel is now heading to Harardheere.

The hijackers themselves hail from Harardheere, and belong to the Sa’ad and Saleebaan sub-clans of the Hawiye. The group’s leader has not been identified yet, but he will be expected to share the eventual ransom with prominent pirate bosses in the area, including Mohamed Garfanje and Guushaaye, according to pirate sources.

Reprinted with permission, (c) 2011 Somalia Report

The vessel hijacked is the Malta-flagged MT Halifax is owned by the Greek-based Ancora Investment Trust Inc.

LONDON (Dow Jones)–Pirates off the coast of Nigeria have taken control of an oil products tanker with about 25 crew members on board, part of a new wave of increasingly sophisticated attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.

Cyrus Mody, a manager of the International Maritime Bureau, said Thursday that the attack, which most likely happened Sunday, is the seventh in Nigeria this year. The ship owner said he hadn’t heard from anyone on board.

The Niger Delta region has seen a return of piracy in recent months, despite most militants in the region accepting a presidential amnesty in late 2009.

While attacks in the region have in the past involved violent robberies of cash, attackers are now targeting the actual cargo and transferring the oil from ships to smaller vessels, which are controlled by local buyers, Risk Intelligence, a maritime consulting group said in a report published this week.

From Dec. 24, 2010 to Oct. 31, 2011, 31 offshore attacks took place on tankers carrying chemicals and refined products in the Bight of Benin, an area spanning from Lagos in Nigeria to Lome in Togo, the Risk Intelligence report said.

In a separate incident Tuesday, gunmen attacked the Nigeria-flagged products tanker Igbere in Akwa Ibom State in the Eastern Delta, according to a report from a security company.

In the attack, nine armed men in a speedboat boarded the ship and took valuables from the crew, the report said. The vessel had already been attacked Sept. 30 and the captain kidnapped and later released.

On average, cargoes captured offshore Nigeria and Benin are kept by pirates for between three and 10 days–enough time for them to transfer the oil to another vessel, Mody said. Once this is done, the vessels are typically released.

The Risk Intelligence report said the hijackings appear to be “part of an integrated criminal system, which engages piracy expertise from the Niger Delta and is supported by powerful commercial and political interests in Lagos and the Delta region.”

Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer at over 2 million barrels a day, has been plagued by political instability and corruption.

-By Jenny Gross and Benoit Faucon of Dow Jones Newswires

According to several reports, pirates in the Gulf of Guinea have hijacked an Italian tanker in an attack reminiscent of hijackings off the Somali Coast.  BBC tells us:

Assailants boarded the RBD Anema e Core early on Sunday in the Gulf of Guinea, officials in Benin and Italy confirmed.

Two of the 23 crew are Italians, the others Filipinos and a Romanian.

Benin’s navy said it was following the hijacked ship while Italy’s foreign ministry liaised with its owner in Naples.

Three pirates managed to board the ship 23 nautical miles (43km) south of Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin, Italian media said. Keep Reading…

MV ROSALIA D’AMATO (Source: Robert Smera/PBase)

The European Union Naval Force Somalia, or EU NAVFOR, has reported that the bulk carrier M/V Rosalia D’Amato was pirated approximately 350NM South East of Salalah, Oman, in the Indian Ocean earlier this morning.

The 74,500 tonne Italian flagged and owned vessel was on its way to Bandar Imam Khomeini (Iran) from Paranagua (Brazil) when it was attacked by a single skiff. Coalition warships had communications with the vessel and were told: ‘pirates onboard stay away’.  The M/V Rosalia D’Amato has a crew of 21(6 Italians, 15 Filipinos). There is no further information on the condition of the crew at present.

The M/V Rosalia D’Amato was registered with MSC(HOA) and was reporting to UKMTO.

In other news, Dow Jones is reporting that a Hanjin Shipping container ship with 14 South Koreans aboard lost contact with its company Thursday off Somalia.

The 75,000-ton container ship had departed from Spain for Singapore.

“The ship made its last communications at around 5 a.m.,” the report quoted the official as saying, without confirming media reports that the ship had been hijacked.

UPDATE: According to a report from a Korean news site, the Hanjin containership previously reported missing has been found by the Korean naval destroyer Choi Young.  The report states that the Korean troops found all 20 crew members inside the freighter’s emergency shelter. Report HERE.

The vessel was attacked and boarded by at least 10 pirates although exact details of the attack are not known at this time.

The Antigua & Barbuda flagged and German owned vessel was on its way to Port Sudan from Mumbai when it was attacked.  The M/V Susan K has a crew of 10 (4 Ukraine and 6 Filipino). There is no further information about the crew at this time.

The M/V Susan K was registered with MSC(HOA) and was reporting to UKMTO.

Pictured: M/V Susan K courtesy EUNAVFOR

The men – a Russian, a Latvian and an Estonia, and three others – were given sentences ranging from 7 to 12 years in jail.

The disappearance of the M/V Arctic Sea made international headlines after a group of armed pirates boarded the vessel near Sweden, reportedly disguised police officers. The vessel slipped from radar in the Atlantic shortly after passing through the English Channel.  The Russian Navy later found the Arctic Sea near the Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa.

Questions regarding the ships cargo – ranging from timber to illicit weapons to surface-to-air missiles – still go unanswered.

According to anti-piracy task force EU NAVFOR, the bulk carrier M/V Sinar Kudus was hijacked by pirates approximately 320 nautical miles North Eas of the island of Socotra in the Somali Basin.  Just hours after her capture, the vessel was boarded by 30 to 50 pirates and used as a mothership for an attack another bulker, the M/V Emperor.  That attack however went unsuccesful when the pirates were repelled by group armed guards aboard the Emperor.

The M/V Sinar Kudos is Indonesian flagged and owned and reportedly has a crew of 20, all Indonesian.

Meanwhile, the Panamanian flagged chemical tanker M/V Hannibal II and her crew of 30 were released from pirate control after being held captive since November 11.

Pictured: Top M/V Sinar Kudus hijacked by pirates on March 16.  Bottom M/V Hannibal II released by pirates after being held since November.  Photos courtesy EU NAVFOR

UPDATE: A hijacked cargo ship was observed being used by pirates as a mother ship 1200Z on 18 March approximately 94 NM southeast of Sur, Oman, at 21:34N 060:51E. This area will remain high risk for at least the next 24-48 hours.

The Libyan state-owned shipping line General National Maritime Transport Company (GNMTC) says that one of its tankers, the Anwaar Afriqya, has been hijacked by group of armed rebels and diverted to the port of Tobruk near the border with Egypt, where it is now berthed.

The company says that tanker is carrying a cargo of 23,800 tons of gasoline and has a crew of 22.

Pictured: The Anwaar Afriqya (black) courtesy flickr user Impala74

The Panamanian flagged, Greek owned vessel was on its way to Saleef (Yemen) from Port Quasim (Pakistan) when it was attacked. Details of the attack are not known at this time. The MV DOVER has a crew of 23 (3 Romanian, 1 Russian and 19 Filipinos). There is presently no communication with the vessel and no information regarding the condition of the crew.

The MV DOVER was registered with MSC(HOA), and was reporting to UKMTO. EUNAVFOR are continuing to monitor the situation.

Meanwhile, the MV IZUMI, which was pirated on 10 October 2010, was released from pirate control over the weekend.  The Panama-flagged vessel and her Filipino crew of 20 are believed to be making for a safe port.  There is no information on the condition of the vessel or the crew.

Photo: MV DOVER courtesy MarineTraffic.com